TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Canadian lawmakers voiced support for Taiwan after the Chinese Ambassador to Canada Wang Di (王鏑) warned against sending lawmakers to Taiwan or warships through the Taiwan Strait, CNA reported Friday.
The Globe and Mail reported that Wang called Taiwan an uncrossable “red line” in Canada-China ties. He said Ottawa must make its position clear if it wants relations with Beijing to keep improving.
Wang said Canadian warships passing through the Taiwan Strait broke Beijing’s “one China” principle. He also criticized Canadian lawmakers for meeting Taiwan officials.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China in January and restarted a “strategic partnership” that had been suspended for eight years. During the trip, two Liberal Party lawmakers who were visiting Taiwan ended their visit early, saying they had done so on the government’s advice, per Liberty Times.
Canadian Senator Leo Housakos, who led a delegation to Taiwan in April, said he was proud to visit Taiwan and meet its lawmakers. He said it was his second visit to Taiwan in recent years and that he would come again.
Conservative Party Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman posted a photo of herself with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on social media. She said Canada should respond to Beijing’s warning by sending more lawmakers and more warships.
Former Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole, who visited Taiwan in March for the Yushan Forum, also criticized Wang’s remarks. He said Canadians, including elected officials, should never stop visiting Taiwan or engaging with Taiwan because of intimidation.
Taiwan’s representative to Canada Tseng Hou-jen (曾厚仁) said Wang’s comments were “absurd” and would backfire. Tseng said diplomacy should be based on dialogue and understanding, not one-sided statements, per iPolitics.
Tseng said the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway, not China’s internal waters. He said countries have the right to freedom of navigation in the strait under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Tseng added that Wang’s warning showed once again that China uses trade as a weapon. He said Canada’s canola exports have often become a target of Chinese retaliation when Beijing wants to pressure Ottawa.
